Arabica Robusta's Public Library

22 Nov 09

called for the rules governing international trade to be separated from "the logic of profit viewed as an end in itself."

FACTBOX-How countries have coped with the oil "curse" | Reuters

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resource curse news oil petroleum development international extractive industry

Responsible consumerism | Manila Bulletin

"Capitalism has evolved in at least three different forms: corporate capitalism, speculator’s capitalism,
and, most recently, creative capitalism."

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capitalism corporate corporate-led social responsibility csr

The multinational manufacturing giants were trying to cope with changes in technology and demographics which threatened to make them obsolete.

Top managements in publicly owned US companies, regardless of size and performance, cowered under the threat of the corporate raider and his ultimate weapon, the junk bond.
Corporate capitalism promised that the large corporation would be run in the interests of the greater number of stakeholders. Instead, it was being pushed into a subordinate role – away from its market standing, its technology, and its basic wealth-producing capacity and into immediate earnings and next week’s stock price. A Marxist would call this turn of events “speculator’s capitalism.”
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- Meantime, Bill Gates has come up with a solution as to how billions of dollars generated through capitalism can help people in the poor nations which the world has forgotten. He termed it creative capitalism. He believed that some corporations have identified brand-new markets among the poor for life-changing technologies like cell phones. Others have seen how they can do good and do well at the same time.
- Through Bono’s persistence, the (RED) campaign was launched and today Gap, Hallmark, and Dell, among others, sell (RED)-branded products and donate a portion of their profits to fight AIDS.
- Corporate America has discovered that social responsibility attracts investment capital as well as customer loyalty, creating a virtuous cycle. Companies are now talking about a triple bottom line – profit, planet, and people – that focuses on how to run a business while trying to improve environmental and working conditions. Some companies have embraced the new ethos.
- social entrepreneurs are starting companies rather than non-profit organizations, to capitalize on public benefit. To top it all, some of these entrepreneurs choose a new corporate structure that requires enterprises to build into their foundation strong social and environmental standards for their operations.
- None of this could have happened without consumer demand. In a survey conducted, half of Americans polled said that protecting the environment should be given priority over economic growth – to think that the survey was done amidst a recession and unprecedented record unemployment.
  
  Consumers are doing their own calculations and they would prefer comparatively more expensive cars that get better gas mileage, will save them money in the long run, and make them feel good in the process. Walmart, once the poster child of ruthlessness, a retailer whose business in the past was to undercut all its competitors, has resolved to change its way of doing business for the sake of the future of the planet.
- These days, some companies are cutting back on their philanthropy but not on their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives

Mmm, mmm good -- at social responsibility | delawareonline.com | The News Journal

"Campbell has a presence in 120 countries with such brands as V8, Pepperidge Farm, Goldfish crackers and Franco-American sauces. Last year, it ranked second among American companies perceived by the U.S. public as the most socially responsible, according to the Corporate Social Responsibility Index of the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and the Reputation Institute."

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csr corporate social responsibility campbell

Campbell has a presence in 120 countries with such brands as V8, Pepperidge Farm, Goldfish crackers and Franco-American sauces. Last year, it ranked second among American companies perceived by the U.S. public as the most socially responsible, according to the Corporate Social Responsibility Index of the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and the Reputation Institute.
At Wharton, Stangis focused on an enduring challenge for corporate responsibility professionals: building and maintaining support within one's own company, especially in a recession, when indiscriminate do-gooding will invariably raise eyebrows among cost-conscious colleagues.

Reputation Institute

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csr corporate social responsibility reputation institute

AFP: Ahmadinejad heads to nuclear-backers Brazil, Venezuela

"Lula said he believed US-led criticism of Iran was reminiscent of Washington's fallacious justification for the war in Iraq.

"Even today, those leaders in favour of the war in Iraq are unable to explain why they invaded if there were no chemical weapons. Well, I am seeing the same sort of things starting to happen over Iran," he said."

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brazil iran latin america us intervention

Lula said he believed US-led criticism of Iran was reminiscent of Washington's fallacious justification for the war in Iraq.
"Even today, those leaders in favour of the war in Iraq are unable to explain why they invaded if there were no chemical weapons. Well, I am seeing the same sort of things starting to happen over Iran," he said.

George Will : Oil's Expanding Frontiers - Townhall.com

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oil industry george will

China-Africa Development Fund

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development africa china business

21 Nov 09

World Bank announces landmark policy | Banking/Finance | Peacefmonline.com

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world bank governance international development

The new policy represents a fundamental shift in the Bank's approach to disclosure of information - moving from an approach that spells out what documents it can disclose to one under which the Bank will disclose any information in its possession that is not on a list of exceptions. The policy statement will be finalized in December 2009 and become effective on July 1, 2010. A progress report will be presented to the Board by the end of 2011.
The new policy represents a fundamental shift in the Bank's approach to disclosure of information - moving from an approach that spells out what documents it can disclose to one under which the Bank will disclose any information in its possession that is not on a list of exceptions. The policy statement will be finalized in December 2009 and become effective on July 1, 2010. A progress report will be presented to the Board by the end of 2011.
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- The new policy represents a fundamental shift in the Bank's approach to disclosure of information - moving from an approach that spells out what documents it can disclose to one under which the Bank will disclose any information in its possession that is not on a list of exceptions. The policy statement will be finalized in December 2009 and become effective on July 1, 2010. A progress report will be presented to the Board by the end of 2011.

16 Nov 09

allAfrica.com: Africa: Traditional Rulers Urged to Apologise On Slave Trade (Page 1 of 1)

All-too-often, the participation of "traditional" elite in the slave trade is forgotten. One must ask as well whether this was a case of already powerful traditional rulers being greedy, or whether it was a strengthening of greedy individuals so that they became "traditional" rulers as a result of the slave trade?

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africa human rights slavery traditional rulers

14 Nov 09

Tales of Corporate Oppression

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corporate culture

Angola: Chinese violence and murders, protest or criminality? - Afrik.com : Africa news, Maghreb news - The african daily newspaper

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china africa development intervention

Who are driving these attacks? Media? Organized gangs? How spontaneous are they? - pickinjava on 2009-11-14

Memo From Africa - France Stirs Ill Will as It Consorts With Region’s Autocrats - NYTimes.com

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france africa intervention corruption human rights nytimes

The antigovernment demonstrators think France still pulls the strings, and while French officials deny this, their actions often suggest otherwise. In Gabon, where the election of an autocrat’s son dashed hopes for ending 40 years of rule under the Bongo family, Mr. Sarkozy’s man in Africa, Alain Joyandet, showed up at Ali Bongo’s pomp-filled inauguration, telling reporters that Mr. Bongo “must be given time.”
recently noted persistent human rights abuses by Cameroon
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- French officials have discouraged scrutiny of African leaders’ corruption, the fruits of which often end up in Paris. A French good-government group’s campaign to expose and recover the “ill-gotten gains” of three of the most notorious leaders — the late Omar Bongo of Gabon, Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Congo Republic and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea — has been opposed by the prosecutor of the French Republic on the grounds that the group has no standing to sue, and that the facts are “ill defined.”
- Transparency International, had set out in detail the leaders’ extensive luxury real-estate holdings in Paris. Last month, an appeals court in Paris agreed with the prosecutors.
- “People don’t like France because France isn’t helping Africans freely choose their leaders,” said Achille Mbembe, a political scientist and historian at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. “